


infinity as she is played

by Rhiannon87



Series: Infinity Plays [1]
Category: Uncharted
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Noncanonical Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-25
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-16 03:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/857423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhiannon87/pseuds/Rhiannon87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If every possible universe exists somewhere in in the infinity of space and time, then a universe must exist where I have all the same memories right up until the moment I died on this earth, but I don't die. I live on, and I don't even know that dozens of me have already died, using these thoughts to calm their final moments." Some other ways it could have gone for Harry Flynn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	infinity as she is played

In one universe, he doesn’t even make it that far. He bleeds out behind the pillar and the grenade goes off before Nate and Chloe and Elena even show up. They’re so distracted by the Stone and Lazarevic that they don’t notice the bloody smears and body parts on the walls and floor, not until they’re coming back after killing the warlord. Chloe’s quietly gutted, and Nate’s sad but not surprised. Elena just wants to leave and seal up the city behind them.

In another, he decides he’s had enough of being Zoran’s pawn, throws the grenade off the side before the others arrive. He tells them to leave him behind and go after Lazarevic, or get out, whatever they want, he doesn’t care. That one branches, then: in one world, he draws his gun to hold them off when Elena and Nate move to help him. In another, he doesn’t have the energy even for that, and dies leaning on Chloe halfway down the stairs out of the temple.

He throws the grenade in several universes. In one, he hurls it straight at Elena, and she dies in Nate’s arms. Chloe can’t convince him to leave, to put Elena’s body down and get up off his knees, before Lazarevic comes back. Lazarevic shoots them all before Chloe’s even realized he’s there. Once it hits Nate square in the chest and kills him. Chloe puts a bullet in his skull before Elena’s stopped screaming. Once he kills Chloe, and Nate’s the one to execute him for the crime. Once he manages to kill all three of them, a lucky throw, shrapnel flying just the right way, and he has to sit and watch blood pool under their bodies before he finally joins them. In two universes, he throws it at the Cintamani Stone, motivated by spite and hatred for the thing, for the whole damn quest. In one of them, the explosion kills Elena outright and Nate a few minutes later. 

In the other, the shards of the Stone sink into their bodies, all four of them, and none of them die. It isn’t long before they wish they had.

There are plenty of universes where he swallows his pride and lets them help. Where he decides he can live with owing Nathan Drake his life because it means he can _live_ , and he can always get out from under that debt later. He gives the grenade to Nate or Chloe to deal with, or he throws it off the side of the temple. Sometimes Nate and Chloe and Elena argue about what to do next; Chloe wants to get out, Nate and Elena want to stop Lazarevic. In a few universes, they split up, and he dies before Chloe can get him out of the city. In one particularly cruel world, he bleeds out while they’re fighting.

In some universes, they all go after Lazarevic, because _of course_ they do, and he bitches about stupid bloody heroics the whole way. Nate and Elena ignore him in favor of providing cover fire, and Chloe tells him that trying to talk sense into those two is a lost cause. In most of those universes, he dies somewhere before they reach Lazarevic. In one, the four of them actually make it down to the tree, only for Lazarevic to shoot him while mocking Nate about trying to save people.

There’s only one where he lives. They all see what the sap does to Lazarevic, and just before the shooting starts Nate dumps him by the pool and says “your choice,” then runs off to help Elena and Chloe fend off the soldiers and the warlord. He drinks the sap, because how can he not, and within a minute he’s on his feet and scrambling for a gun of his own. They escape the collapsing city, and as soon as they hit the monastery the other three have their guns on him. Chloe takes his weapon and won’t meet his eyes while Nate tells him that if he ever sees him again, he’ll kill him, no matter how many bullets it might take now. Then they leave, the three of them. Nate puts his arm around Elena’s shoulders, and Chloe’s the only one to look back. She looks disappointed more than anything.

Harry sits on a collapsed pillar, snow soaking into his jeans, and watches them go. Nate hates him, Chloe probably does too, but what does he care. He’s alive. He’s alive, and the world’s big enough that he can stay out of Nate’s way. And someday, he’ll figure out how to erase that debt, and he won’t owe any of them a goddamn thing.

In this universe, though, he says there's no way out and believes it, and he doesn't much care what happens to any of them after he drops the grenade. 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Infinity as she plays on](https://archiveofourown.org/works/929944) by [Caryl (Starshone)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starshone/pseuds/Caryl)




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